is, it finds its true expression and meaning in combination with a greater group of beads, strung together binding form, function, commodity and delight.
The strong landscape routes that draw a building user from the railway bridge, through the public piazza, across the parking court alongside the drum and water feature, through the Atrium Street, out across and around and through the Heritage Court, to the well, into the DPC, and up towards Freedom Park, is yet another string of beaded components, tied into a collection greater than the sum of its parts.
Five Fingers: Integrating, Embracing, Connecting The brief called for the recognition of the five key data collection and measurement areas in which Stats SA does their work. The main building is formed by the drum and Five Fingers which boldly represent these areas. The fingers are entwined around the central Atrium Street, where functions mesh and overlap and are shared, and stretch out into the landscape of the site and the city, knitting together the campus and its location, and the Department and its country and people. The DPC speaks the same architectural language and expresses its two functions in three-dimensional form. The functions in the Heritage Court support those in the DPC and Main Building, and strengthen the notion of the embracement of space and the integration of place.
AN ARCHITECTURAL PHILOSOPHY: BROADER DESIGN PRINCIPLES HAND IN HAND WITH THE BOLD SYMBOLISM Besides the strong symbolism contained in the campus design, other important design principles included the following aspects – both practical and philosophical- which were used in combination to create a functional place with spirit and soul.
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